Teenagers hit by train before school dance; 1 dead
Residents in the Northern California town of Marysville were in mourning after two teenagers were struck by a Union Pacific train Friday night.
According to authorities, 16-year-old Mateus Moore was pronounced dead on the scene. A 16-year-old girl, Mickayla Friend, was airlifted to Sutter Roseville hospital for critical injuries, according to Fox 40.
Marysville Police Chief David Baker said the two 16-year-olds were headed to a Sadie Hawkins dance at their high school, Marysville Charter Academy of the Arts, when they were stuck by the southbound Union Pacific train. Investigators are still figuring out why the two did not see, hear or feel the vibrations of the slow-moving train. Baker said they did not find headphones on either of the victims.
“We just don’t know. We don’t know what distractions had been in place. We just have no information on that at this point in time,” Baker said.
Union Pacific investigators are leading this investigation, while Marysville police and the Yuba County Sheriff’s Department are acting as support agencies.
The Appeal-Democrat reported that witnesses heard the train’s horn go off many times just before the accident.
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